Jane Steele Moore and her neighbours are excited about the new transit coming to Eglinton Ave. 鈥 the that will function as a subway running underground on their stretch east of Chaplin Cres.
But they are also fearful and angry about Official Plan and zoning amendments that come with the transit. The residents say the city hasn鈥檛 properly consulted them on new requirements for expanded laneways directly north and south of .
Many of her neighbours are only now learning what the complex city planning exercise called means to their leafy, quiet streets, says Steele Moore, who lives on Latimer and has been reaching out to residents on nearby Castlewood, Castleview, Gilgorm and Heddington.
Wider laneways of at least six metres and new laneways where none currently exist are intended to keep cars and trucks from blocking Eglinton Ave.
But those same laneways will send more traffic through the north-south streets, subjecting residents to the roar of trucks at all hours and eventually displacing houses as developers buy up properties to comply with the laneway provisions, say the residents.
They fear that vehicles will shoot through the laneways crossing residential north-south streets, endangering pedestrians, particularly children and seniors. They worry that parking, already in demand, will become more scarce as new condos and bigger developments overtake one and two-storey buildings.
鈥淲e are not anti-development. We love the LRT, we know that the street has to change. But what we鈥檙e saying is include us. Allow us to have input and notify us when things are going to happen to us,鈥 said Steele Moore.
鈥淚f somebody behind me wanted to put in a larger deck or they wanted to remove a tree or they want the parking pad I get a notice addressed to this residence,鈥 she said.
City officials say is one of the most extensive consultations 色色啦 has ever conducted. The city spent $80,000 to $90,000 on the public consultations, with five major meetings and dozens of smaller community events. In addition to newspaper and radio ads, 色色啦 distributed 75,000 flyers and sent direct mail to property owners within 500 metres of Eglinton Ave.
But that鈥檚 not the same as a direct invitation and response, said Steele Moore, who says she and her neighbours never heard back on the forms they filled out soliciting their opinions.
On Tuesday, city officials sent out news releases and offered assurances that there is no attempt to reduce anyone鈥檚 enjoyment of their neighbourhood.
鈥淐hange is coming,鈥 admitted Lorna Day, project manager for Eglinton Connects. But it won鈥檛 happen overnight.
鈥淭he truth is, this is a long-term proposition. This will only occur if redevelopment occurs. It鈥檚 market driven. There hasn鈥檛 been a lot of development activity along Eglinton in the last two to five years. What we do know is that an investment in transit does generate a renewed interest so this whole study is trying to get ahead of that interest and guide it in a way that weaves it back into the city in a comfortable way,鈥 she said.
No houses will be expropriated for laneways, nor will laneways function as throughways, stressed Day.
Noise from laneway use, however, she said, is 鈥渁 standard urban condition.鈥 The laneways are part of a reallocation of the road space that鈥檚 being used right now for buses 鈥 buses that mostly won鈥檛 be needed once the LRT is running in 2020.
The laneways that put deliveries and loading behind Eglinton are a way of enhancing the reallocation of road space. Much of the road that is being used now by buses will be redistributed to cycling lanes, wider sidewalks and cars.
鈥淚n order to make sure it鈥檚 a safe and comfortable street for all users . . . you have to have make sure the nuts and bolts 鈥 the business side of those buildings 鈥 doesn鈥檛 happen in conflict with pedestrians and cyclists,鈥 said Day.
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